Chapter Two #2
One of the perks of living in Maple Falls for most of your life means you know everyone.
The girl beside Granny Fable was close to my age, a faerie, with wide doe eyes, light-brown skin and wings that were a pale-green colour.
Around her neck, she wore a silver chain that went down her shirt but might have been a pendant.
‘Sofia, allow me to introduce you to Maya Reverie, daughter of Mayor Reverie.’ Granny Fable placed a hand on Sofia’s elbow. ‘And that’s Raven Hawthorne, Chief Inspector Hawthorne’s daughter.’
Sofia looked at Raven and me, and waved. ‘Hi.’
‘Hi,’ we chorused back. The three of us were submerged in that awkwardness that always came when an adult introduced you to a new person.
‘Sofia is my granddaughter and has just moved to Maple Falls,’ Granny Fable continued, without missing a beat. ‘She needed a change of scenery, so I’ve invited her to finish her last year of schooling while staying with me!’
‘That’s great!’ I said quickly and jovially. Something in Granny Fable’s voice sounded earnest, like she truly wanted everyone to like her granddaughter. I never really knew Granny’s daughter – she moved away when I was still a kid and never visited.
‘If we’re in the same classes, I’ll save you a seat,’ I said, catching Sofia’s eye.
The younger faerie looked surprised by my offer. ‘That would be great,’ she said, a small smile curved on her face. Granny Fable shot me a look that was pure gratefulness, as the two walked away.
‘You’re going to adopt her, aren’t you?’ Raven said, eyebrows raised. ‘You’re going to make me socialize with another person and be friendly.’
I turned to her and nodded sheepishly. If I wasn’t going to have a soulmate to keep me company while Raven was gone, then I could at least have another friend. And who better than Sofia? Someone new in Maple Falls; someone who’d just arrived and would need a friend to show her around town.
‘I’m going to need more coffee,’ Raven said, as she pushed herself away from the stall. ‘Do you want me to grab you –’ Something caught her attention over my shoulder, and a second later her eyes widened with something akin to panic.
‘What? What is it? Is it a spider, because you know I’m scared of –’ I said, whirling around and coming face to face with Silas Moon.
For a moment that felt like it stretched for eternity, I simply stared at him.
He wore the Maple Mart uniform, which was a white shirt and a green apron that had MAPLE MART written in bright yellow on it.
His blonde hair was windswept, and there was a light stubble growing on his face that was new.
It made him look older. Dashing, even. I was afraid I was going to literally swoon.
‘Hi,’ Silas said, all dimple smiled. His gaze dropped to the doughnuts in the case. ‘I’ve been hearing a lot about these enchanted doughnuts. Think I could get one?’
‘Uh –’ I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Not until Raven stepped on my foot underneath the table with all her strength.
‘Yes – yes, of course. These ones are custard-filled with a sugar coating.’ The words bubbled out of me, and it seemed that, once I had started, I couldn’t stop.
‘They’re enchanted to soothe worries. And these ones are glazed but filled with a lemon jam for a brighter morning.
Or I suppose, you know, an afternoon now.
Or maybe, late morning? I don’t really – hi, by the way. I don’t think I said hi.’
From my periphery, I could see Raven staring at me like I’d grown a second head. But in front of me, Silas was still smiling.
He really was my dream guy. Funny in class, kind to others and non-judgemental (given the fact that he was always nice to me despite my many public embarrassments over the years).
‘I’ll take a custard one, please,’ Silas said, his voice light with humour. ‘We’ve got that potions test on Monday, and I’m already feeling anxious.’
Out of the three mandatory subjects I had to take for my MOEs (Magical Order Examinations), I shared one class with Silas Moon – potions. And I spent most of it trying really hard not to look at him for too long.
‘Same,’ I said, turning to look directly at the doughnuts in the case. When I wasn’t looking at him, the words came out a little easier. ‘I feel like Professor Malt is going to make it extra hard just for fun.’
‘He is one sadistic pixie, I’ll give you that,’ Silas agreed, and his gaze followed my movements as I used a pair of tongs to pull the doughnut from the case. ‘That looks incredible. Thanks, Maya.’
Now, I have no one to blame here but myself.
Not my magic, not my spells, just plain old me.
Because I know how to use tongs. I’ve used them to pull jalebis out of sputtering oil, to toss churros in cinnamon sugar, or the thousand-and-one times I’ve pulled a baked good from a display case for a customer.
Yet, when I heard Silas say my name, some part of my brain stopped working. And I – with more pressure and excitement than necessary – squeezed the tongs that held his doughnut and the bright, summer-yellow jam from the doughnut went splat against Silas’s white shirt.
‘I am so sorry,’ I said, horrified and still clutching the tongs in my white-knuckled grasp.
I couldn’t decide whether I should put them down, or offer him a napkin, or apologize again.
So, I tried to do all three at the same time, and it only led to me making three abrupt movements that led nowhere.
Silas looked up from his shirt, a little uncertain, and I could tell he was thinking about THE INCIDENT.
He was probably wondering if I had some agenda against his clothes, determined to ensure that he never wore a white shirt ever again.
As Raven passed him some napkins to wipe himself down with, mortification flooded me, and I opened my mouth to apologize again, but I was cut off by shouting.
Silas’s head shot to his right, and I followed suit to see a crowd forming in the middle of the street.
Like magnets, the three of us went towards the crowd.
Silas used his broad shoulders to push his way through, with Raven and I following in his wake.
When we reached the middle of the circle, all we could see was Inspector Vale.
Nothing unusual about that. Vale ‘monitored’ the fall bake sale every year.
It was usually an excuse for him to get his hands on free goodies.
Only, I wasn’t sure what he was doing on his knees.
In front of Ivy. Raven and I shared a look that very clearly said: What is happening?